Coming Home For the Holidays

scary drive, but home safely!

Yesterday was the day that decided a few things. One of them was whether or not we would be home at a decent hour in the evening and the other was whether or not we would make it safely home. We made it safely, but after an ordeal of a drive!

Do you remember me asking a question in the forum about the roads between Knoxville, TN and Jamestown, NY? I heard that we were supposed to have a snowstorm somewhere in the Northeast. However it ended up being pouring rain. Here is what happened.

Me, my cousin, husband and two friends were in this little Prius of mine. Just imagine how cramped we all were sitting in that little car for over 12 hours! My husband offered to drive, but because he didn't have much experience with long highway drives in potentially bad weather, I did not want to have him drive when there were other people besides me in the car. As I have done this drive many times before from Greensboro, NC to Jamestown, NY and back, I felt more comfortable driving.

When we started from Knoxville, the rain had come through sometime between midnight and 3AM. It seemed to be drying up when we left at 4:30AM. As we left, my cousin realized she forgot her camera battery so we had to go to her place to pick it up (not too far from my place). Then we got gas for the car. As we did so, my husband wasn't sure if he had locked the apartment. So we went back to check. I am glad we did, because our door was unlocked.

We finally ended up starting our long journey at almost 5AM. The road conditions between Knoxville and Wyetheville, VA were clear with no rain on sight. We ended up stopping in Wyetheville because my leg had suddenly started to cramp because I had been sitting in one position for too long. We ended up having breakfast at McD's and getting gas for the car. When I looked at the time, one and a half hours had passed in our break. I wanted to get started but people had to smoke or use the bathroom. So I waited a few more minutes and then we were back on our way. I warned everyone that unless I needed gas again or needed a bathroom break, I was not stopping for four more hours.

So as we left from Wyetheville, the rain started. It didn't start drizzling. It came in torrents and in sheets. There were times when I could not see the road and seriously contemplated pulling over. However, I maintained a safe distance from other cars and slowly kept on going. After about three and a half hours, I realized I needed gas.

Now, you must be thinking, she has a Prius! Why does she need to fill up every few hours? Well the main reason was that we had two huge suitcases, two small carry on bags, bags of presents, bags of shoes and every one of us had a backpack. Just imagine how heavy all of that weight plus the weight of all of us combined would weigh down this poor car!

So I stopped in Fairmount, WV at a gas station. It was still pouring when we got there.We bought sandwiches to eat there, and munchies for the road. Then we took gas and left.

Our destination was Pittsburgh, PA to drop off the two friends who were visiting their cousin and his family for the holidays. As we neared Washington, PA, the rain stopped. The roads were dry and the drive was very nice. We were in Pittsburgh within a couple of hours from where we stopped in Fairmount, WV. We dropped off the guys at a Starbucks Coffee Place. I bought a tea, had most of it there, used the restroom and was ready to go. My husband wanted to make sure they guys got to where they had to be so kept guiding them as to how to go about calling a cab to go to the cousin's place. After they called, me, my husband and cousin left.

From Pittsburgh, PA until Jamestown, NY the rain was continuous. It did not even stop for a minute. It either got worse or to the point where we could see the cars in front of us for a few minutes. The drive was bad, and it did not help that at 4:30PM the sky started getting dark. Again, there were a few times where I thought I should pull over, but then I realized I just wanted to get home and relax then. We finally made it home at 6:30PM, after having taken 3 breaks.

It was a rough drive and rough ordeal. I am just glad we were able to make it to my parents' house safely. I was so exhausted when I got home and just wanted to sleep (at 6:30PM). However, I didn't.

I took a shower and ate some dinner with everyone. I stayed up until about 10:15PM when I couldn't take the exhaustion anymore. I had a great 10 hour sleep. It was such a deep sleep that I couldn't hear my husband snoring next to me. :)

Have you ever had a long drive that was quite rough due to the bad weather? Tell me about it :). I would like to know what happened. As always, comments, thoughts and ideas are always welcomed!

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